MAB

AtaXia by Mcgregor was the one I found intolerable.  The pain in my  ears made it impossible to concentrate on the ballet.  A lot of people walked out and I was about to do so myself when it mercifully came to an end.  I don't think it was revived. 

19 minutes ago, bridiem said:

Seconded! He has so many qualities that have made him such a special dancer: purity of line, technical strength and cleanliness, musicality, dramatic skills, sincerity, unobtrusive and sensitive partnering, and a rare kind of showmanship that is theatrical without ever being showy. He approaches all his roles with such intelligence, and produces performances that are consistently interesting, beautiful and (when required!) moving. A very rare talent.

 

And in so many of his roles he had a warmth about him that radiated across the footlights, that's something that made him so special for me.

From the audience reaction to Creature the night I went, ENB would be mad to ditch creature.

Is it a thread to ask if there will be a flower throw?  Unfortunately I am having surgery on the 8th so cannot be there, but would love to contribute to the atmosphere of his farewell.

When I saw it Sadlers Wells was packed.  Far from a mistake in my book.

On the other hand that Raymonda sounded so outrageous I never bothered to go.

32 minutes ago, PeterS said:

all other things being equal, perhaps there is no widespread appetite for or support for a production of La Fille?

Would you care to further explain your opinion?  Are you in possession of a poll of Ukrainian ballet goers, or perhaps someone with ill intent has inspired you to make this post?

Indeed Fiona.  I note there was a complaint on the Ukraine Gala thread regarding high prices, also performances on Sundays.  I will reiterate that west end prices are just as high and can be higher and that Sunday is the best day for dancer availability.

Regarding comments about announced dancers not appearing, I will say that arranging these events is as difficult as herding cats.  People should bear in mind that dancers agree in good faith but may have to withdraw for a whole range of reasons beyond their control.  injuries, family illness, visa complications and withdrawal of permissions by company directors can all play a part.  A little understanding  would be in order.

Firstly I have no idea whether the Palladium has offered the theatre for free or not,  The timings for these events often have to do with availability of the venue and it has to coincide with the availability of the artists performing as well,  Dancers are usually free on Sundays wherever they hail from.  It is therefore the most convenient day of the week for them,  I believe the performance starts early at 6pm meaning the audience can depart an hour and a half earlier.

I have it on excellent authority that venues will suggest the seat prices and expect impresarios to fall in line with their 'recommended retail prices', I do not know if that is the case for tomorrow;s event or not, but it is worth bearing in mind.  Also worth bearing in mind is is the fact that top west end prices average out about £140, one west end musical charges over £300 for the best seats in the house.  If people can't afford that then those shows would close, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

As to the Palladium not hosting ballet, I've seen rather a lot there, much of it highly memorable,  Plisetskaya's Dying Swan, my first sight of Manuel Legris and going much further back, Maina Gielgud dancing while her uncle, Sir John, recited Shakespeare.  Hopefully tomorrow will leave me with similar indelible memories. 

2 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

Subsequently the company revived Nureyev's R&J, which had been performed before I was a ballet-watcher.  I'm sorry to say that I find that production really boring.

It has its admirers, but generally speaking I'm not one of them.

I've a horrible felling that this may be the beginning of the end for ENO.

1 minute ago, alison said:

They haven't done the Ashton since around 1991.

More's the pity.

The programme looks fine for an average season but massively disappointing for a 75th anniversary season.  Like others here my first thought was where's Etudes?  For me ENB suffers from the same problem as the RB, they both have a dazzling back catalogue of master works but choose not to perform them.  I would have hoped for a triple bill of some of those gems e.g. Suite en Blanc, Swan Song, perhaps Pat Dolin's Pas de Quatre, he was after all one of the company's co founders.

Nutcracker?  I've seen better and seen much worse, it does do good business though so I don't see the point in replacing it.  As the production seems to have its admirers, I suggest a trip to Budapest where the Eagling version is also performed. You'll Like Budapest, it has no fewer than three ballet venues AND they dance Etudes.

I went to the Curzon, Mayfair on Sunday afternoon.  A very good turnout and a surprise bonus at the end when Reece Clarke made a personal appearance.for an interview.  I've been to a few of these screenings over the years, but it's the first time I've been to one where a member of the cast turned up.

I also remember him in Don Q partnering Osipova at her London debut in the role.  And who remembers the Mikhailovsky's high camp Spartacus with him in the title role?  Seeing Denis Matvienko again must be worth the price of a ticket alone - at least it is for me.

I have two tickets available for the 9 pm performance  tonight  £20 each if anyone is interested

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

But I think I’d prefer slightly longer run’s, particularly of Manon and Mayerling.

I'd like far shorter runs and far more different ballets each season.  I would also like many years to elapse before seeing those two ballets again.

Just back from a performance of Elijah,  a celebration of the human spirit if ever there was one, great art as ever making me briefly forget the negatives in my life.  I take a look at Ballet.co and find something so dispiriting and ugly that my euphoria evaporates more rapidly than ice cream in a heat wave.  So it isn't enough that Ukrainians are suffering the horrors of war but they must forego any pleasures that remain.

It was the wartime tours of British Ballet companies that turned dance into a popular art form in this country, just read Ballet in the Blitz and A Dancer in Wartime.  The theatres stayed open regardless of what was raining down on them and people frequently went home from a night out to find their homes a pile of rubble.  Ukrainians need distractions too.  A new ballet?  Just the thing!  Perhaps people are now too far removed from the realities of war to understand - unless there are great grandparents around to tell of their memories.  Perhaps watching atrocities every night on the telly has dulled any sense of empathy, at least I hope that's the case, rather than a total lack of concern.

Sure, medical aid is needed, so are cruise missiles.  But if as the pundits say we're on track for WW3 I hope I'm not deprived of culture in what might be my last days.

Personally I put any laughter down to alcohol being drunk during the ballet.  When I went to a matinee with lots of kids present I heard no laughter whatsoever.

55 minutes ago, Geoff said:

I have no sentimental feelings towards that conductor whose reading of the score I found contrary to Strauss’s intentions. He tried a similar approach recently with Rheingold, which was remarkably successful and congruent with Wagner’s ambitions.

You are far from alone in that view.

8 hours ago, jorge said:

Le Papillon , I read once the libretto and I seen a video of YouTube and is nice .

Ashton created a solo from the music of Papillon for Wayne Eagling at a gala, I've never seen it danced since.  I wonder what became of it?  The choreography looked fiendish though.

Sorry Lin, always been the world.s worst typist, in my day we had typing pools for that.   I have corrected the blooper.

 The finest performance I ever saw of Manon was at an ROH prom performance in the 1980;s.  The unforgettable cast was Seymour, Eagling and Dowell. 

1 hour ago, art_enthusiast said:

I just dislike the concept of DG bring this perfect man who forgives/absolves the amoral female character as these situations are rarely black and white.

After having seen two operas and a ballet, I haven't bothered with the book.  I assume DG paid his passage, his father is a nobleman.  The reason why he has so little money at the start is because Dad disapproves of his son going into the priesthood.  The person who lures him from his vocation is Manon.  she succeeds where his father failed.  DG forgives her mainly because he is besotted and partly, I assume,  because of his strong Christian ethics.

11 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

It baffles me that an assembled score can be better than a score a composer wrote specifically for a plot 

I suppose it is the equivalent of creating a musical from all the hits of something that has gone before.  Massenet's most performed opera, Werther, doesn't feature in the ballet either.  When I started opera going Massenet hardly figured in the repertoire, happily that's not the case any more.

The one where Lucia has sexual congress in a cemetery and later sits in a bath of blood?  Or perhaps I've missed some other horror being inflicted since?